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A Good Defense: Public defenders system gives citizens assistance of counsel

By Rachel Alexander

alexanderr@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
06/19/2013 09:51:29 PM MDT

Riley Selleck is an attorney for the 11th Judicial District public defenders office who defends felony cases in Fremont County District Court. (Tim Brown / Special to the Daily Record)

The Constitution of the United States guarantees citizens' rights to the assistance of counsel in criminal proceedings, even if one cannot afford to hire an attorney.

"In Colorado, that right is defended through the statewide Public Defenders Office," said 11th Judicial District public defender Riley Selleck. "The public defenders system in Colorado, a lot of people think it's the best in the nation."

Selleck said that's because it's a state system, his office -- which is based in Salida -- gets a lot of support from other areas of the state, including the office based in Denver.

"That doesn't exist in every state," he said. "Most states have county systems, where every county is on its own."

Selleck grew up in the Denver area and attended the University of Colorado for his undergraduate degree. He got his law degree from California Western School of Law.

He was able to intern with a criminal defense attorney, who he knew growing up, while in college.

"He is a very good attorney, and he handled some pretty high profile cases, death penalty cases," Selleck said. "So I worked on some of those as a college intern. I went from there to doing some kind of activist work. I did mostly anti-death penalty work."

Selleck said a competent legal defense is one of the main ways the criminal justice system preserves people's Constitutional rights, including reasonable search and seizure, fair trial and the right to an attorney.

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"I believe in those things and that's why I'm doing it," Selleck said. "I want to protect people, protect poor people. And I also believe in public service. I think that everybody should spend some period of their life in public service, serving other people."

The public defenders system satisfies the requirements of the Sixth Amendment, as well as ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that indigent individuals have the right to an attorney free of charge. Specific requirements must be met in order for a person to have an attorney appointed by the court.

"I think that we as a society have decided that we're not just going to allow people without resources to suffer without having some kind of competent defense," he said.

He said people still get a "raw deal" because they do not have the resources to defend themselves.

"I wear a couple of different hats," he said of his role in the criminal justice system.

He said his first job is to advise his clients about their cases and how the law applies.

"You're sitting there with a person who doesn't know the law and your job is to tell them what the law is," he said. "Then you put on your other hat and you go into court and you fight for them, which is a totally different feeling, a totally different experience."

Selleck said the defense attorneys act as quality control within the criminal justice system, ensuring their clients' rights are not violated.

"If the prosecution does their job right, if they do a quality job, if law enforcement does their job right then justice is going to happen most of the time," he said. "We're not there looking to try to stop that. People also need to understand, the way it's set up, we're supposed to zealously represent our clients. The same expectation is placed on the DA."

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